I can’t believe we are writing our final blog posts. It feels like it was last week when Prof Kane warned us about his abnormally high withdrawal percentage that he typically sees in the first week of class. There is so much I could write about here, and I think it would be best to start by expressing some gratitude for the guest speakers that we’ve had this semester. I am in disbelief as I look through my speaker takeaway notes. In the first month of having guest speakers, Anh Philips taught us about the “glamorous” CEO role, Jenna Steichen and Jere Doyle shared tremendous insight into the increasingly complicated world of venture capital, BJ explained to us how innovation is overrated, and Dennis shared priceless life advice. Dennis Crowley seems to be the overwhelming favorite, and he seems like the type of person that would be extremely surprised to hear that. His humble and bright nature was truly inspirational. There were great quotes throughout the 45-minute session, but my favorite segment was when he shared details about his gap year. With his impressive career and resume, I was shocked to hear that the most fun he had was when he became a snowboard instructor for a year after getting laid off. He emphasized that a gap year is nothing to be ashamed of and to follow the things you are interested in. When Dennis was enthralled with Dodgeball, it was everything he did. When he wanted to snowboard, he became a snowboard instructor. He makes his own rules, and casually having a two-time Forbes 40 under 40 recipient speak to our class is nothing I have experienced before and I am extremely thankful for it.
The MIS major is something that I never thought I would end up in. Despite both my dad and older brother being MIS majors, it was not something that I was initially drawn to. Their work always seemed quite boring when I asked what they were doing, but after taking finance classes and realizing what many of those jobs could possibly be like, I realized that MIS might not be that bad after all. Simultaneously studying Finance, MIS, and music business exposed me to a wide variety of topics, information, and people, and I can confidently say that the MIS group is gifted. Classmates have always been relatable and enjoyable to be around, and having professors like Kane confirms that I made the right decision to add the MIS major early in my junior year. The main theme that all guest speakers shared was that people are everything. Being around the right people is impactful in both life and business, and many of us noticed that every speaker had an impressive ability to communicate. This must come from experience and I guarantee most would not have sounded as great if it were late 2020 and we were still getting used to speaking to a camera.
Moving on to our blog posts, I found it to be a highlight of my week to read what each of us came up with. There were so many cool topics covered, and having the freedom to think outside the box and write about literally anything was a huge relief. Posts that would rack up comments were always interesting, and after looking through many of the posts I commented on, I think Chase’s post about artificial intelligence potentially translating trees’ communication was the most surprising. I hope future #MIST5720 students will enjoy this as much as I did.
Thank you Prof Kane for making learning fun this semester, and I hope to stay connected with everyone in the future so I have included my socials below. Thank you all for everything.
LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/matthew-starker-1961ab220/
Instagram: @matthew_starker
Hey Matt! I really enjoyed reading your final blog post. I agree Dennis made a really large impact on a few of us as we are getting ready to graduate. I felt as this semester passed by so fast and I can’t understand why Kane would have a high dropped rate. I really didn’t know too much about MIS when I applied to the program but I’m so glad I finished this program.
Congrats on all you’ve studied, that’s an awesome mix between finance, MIS, and music bus.! Definitely an honor to find myself, and ourselves, in your ‘gifted group’, haha! I did also find that the big takeaway was just being “people people” too, that if we can deal with and work well with people, everything else gets substantially easier, and also more fun! I also enjoyed your reference to Jeopardy, makes me want to watch more of it sometime soon and try to find that episode. Best of luck after graduation!
Hey Matthew, awesome post. I agree that Dennis was a fan favorite and at least makes the top 2-3 for guests speakers this semester. Awesome to hear your takeaway from the course as a whole, specifically the key skill of communication that was paramount throughout the semester.
Good post matthew, I enjoy your rundown and perspective of this class and how it has affected you. Im sure all of us agree with you on that front. Dennis was great and its cool to see he had a shout out on jeopardy.